Basic about Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital of the Republic of Serbia and situated at where the Sava and Danube rivers meet. The city has approximately 1.6 million residents.

Basic facts about Belgrade

Language

The official language of Serbia is Serbian. The Cyrillic alphabet is used officially, with Latin script also commonly used. Serbian Cyrillic has 30 characters, and each letter corresponds directly to one sound, which makes it unique in comparison with other writing systems.

Many residents of Belgrade speak other languages, among these are English, German, French and Russian.

Currency

The official currency is the dinar (RSD). Currency may be exchanged in all banks and post offices, as well as in the many authorized exchange offices.

Taxes

Value Added Tax (VAT – PDV in Serbian) charged on goods and services varies between 8% or 18%, depending on the type of goods or services.

Foreign nationals who take goods purchased in Serbia with them when they leave the country are entitled to a refund of VAT, providing that the total value of the goods inclusive of VAT exceeds 10,000 dinars, and that they are taken out of the country within three months of purchase. In order to obtain a refund of VAT, foreign visitors must obtain „Request by a foreign national for refund“ form REF4, from the seller of the goods. The seller must complete the form in triplicate, giving the original and one copy to the purchaser. On leaving Serbia the purchaser must show the invoice, goods and original REF4 form to Customs.